North Hempstead town board approves $150K in new bonds for elevators

North Hempstead Town Hall is seen in Manhasset. (Photo by Jim Henderson via Wikimedia Commons)

Town of North Hempstead officials approved a second bond to repair aging elevators at three locations last week, exceeding officials’ original cost estimates.

Town board members voted unanimously to issue $150,000 in new bonds, building upon a $100,000 bond passed earlier this year, toward an elevator repair plan. The town previously approved $406,270 to fix elevators at Town Hall and Michael J. Tully Park in New Hyde Park.

Officials described fixing the Tully Park elevator as pressing, due to its high use and being in and out of service since January. A temporary chairlift has helped ferry people up and down the stairs since then.

Trottere said that on a typical day, 368 patrons use the park and pool at Michael J. Tully Park. She also noted that Project Independence, a program by the town’s Department of Services for the Aging, draws 50 to 60 people a day. As a result, that elevator’s average use is 60 to 70 times per day.

Trottere said that all the other elevators are working, but aging. The one at Town Hall in Manhasset, for example, still works but needs upgrades to operate well.

“It’s still operational, but very old, and parts need to be custom made,” Trottere said. “It’s not like they can just take them off the shelves.”

In addition to rebuilding the elevator cabs in Tully Park and upgrading the Town Hall elevator, the bond money will also go toward fixing the elevator at the town’s public works department building in North New Hyde Park.

Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth told Newsday that the town needed extra money because costs exceeded expectations.

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